As an artist / photographer, I am particularly interested in the transitional landscape and coal heaps are a prime example, as they constantly change shape and volume. It’s a slowly disappearing landscape, since coal driven power plants are banned more and more in our part of the world, especially since and because of the Paris Agreement of 2015. It interests me that coal represents everything that generally is perceived as dirty and polluting, while on the other hand, these heaps, like no other, are able to catch the light so phenomenally. 

Portraying coal heaps in a formal style can create a certain monumentality, like mythological magic mountains, on which the viewer can project their own thoughts. Especially when a white paper-emulsion is sprayed on top of them - to keep the coal dust from spreading - the heaps seem in competition with natural mountains with snowy tops. These landscapes are unknown to most people, because they are located in remote and semi-hidden places. For me it was a revelation to find and to create beauty in these unlikely and unexpected places. Extraordinary and vanishing landscapes, in a changing world.

This book is telling the story of how a major part of the carbon based economy era slowly is coming to an end. As such, this series of vanishing landscapes are made in the same spirit as early 20th century photographer Eugène Atget, documenting the street scenes of Paris before their disappearance into modernization.

All photos were created at industrial areas in The Netherlands from 2012 - 2017.

© 2017 Bart van Damme